In his 1851 publication of his journal, Dahomey and the Dahomeyans, Frederick Forbes gave an account of the slave trade in the Kingdom of Dahomey. Forbes had been sent to the kingdom as an officer of England's Royal Navy; his mission was to convince the King to suppress Dahomey's involvement with the slave trade.

Through his journal, Forbes hoped to bring to the public's attention the dreadful slave hunts then taking place. He described Dahomey's tactics in acquiring slaves: they systematically attacked neighboring states, siezing the natives and annexing the newly acquired land.

The Slave Chain is an illustration from Dahomey and the Dahomeyans.

Image Credit: by permission of the Houghton Library, Harvard University